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Read Japanese Literature
Alison Fincher
46 episodes
2 weeks ago
In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript ava...
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All content for Read Japanese Literature is the property of Alison Fincher and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript ava...
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Episodes (20/46)
Read Japanese Literature
The Master of the Japanese Ghost Story
In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript ava...
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2 weeks ago
54 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Bullying in Japanese Literature
In this episode, we look at bullying in Japanese literature. We'll start out by defining bullying and looking at bullying in Japanese schools as well as the Japanese workplace. We'll see some examples in Japanese novels. And then we'll talk about Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror, translated into English by Philip Gabriel. This episode is rated mature. CW: bullying and suicide If you're thinking about suicide, please get help. Open Counseling hosts a list of international suicid...
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1 month ago
57 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Christianity in Japanese Literature
In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo's Silence. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.) Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly. Get in touch at www.readjapaneseliterature.com. Support RJL on Patreon.com. Buy your ...
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5 months ago
1 hour 1 minute

Read Japanese Literature
Japanese Writers Standing Up to the State
In this episode, we take a look at the Japanese proletarian writers’ movement of the 1920s and early 1930s. We also take a deep dive into the life of author Genzaburo Yoshino—not a proletarian writer, but a man who spent prison alongside them and for some of the same beliefs—and his novel How Do You Live?. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.) Please note that text messages are f...
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8 months ago
1 hour 3 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Keiichiro Hirano
For the first time ever, RJL brings you information from an interview with a Japanese author—Akutagawa-winner Keiichiro Hirano. This episode takes up his life and work, the influence of Yukio Mishima on his fiction, and his most-recently-translated novel, Eclipse. CW: attempted suicide in a discussion of Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available. Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you w...
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9 months ago
52 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Christmas in Japanese Literature
Happy holidays! And, in the interest of today’s episode, merri kurisumasu!Today we’re going to start with the origins of Christmas, especially why Christmas is celebrated in Japan at all. We’ll move on to how Christmas is celebrated in Japan. And we’ll end with some examples of what part Christmas seems to play in Japanese literature—or at least Japanese literature that gets translated.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us t...
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11 months ago
52 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 2
RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part two covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through through contemporary LGBTQ+ writing, especially the life and work of Nobuko Yoshiya, Edogawa Ranpo, Yukio Mishima, and Li Kotomi. We also spend a little time on the role of queer manga.Part one covered some of the earliest writing in Japanese through the end of the Meiji Period in 1912.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcrip...
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11 months ago
57 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
LGBTQ+ Stories from Japan, Part 1
RJL is excited to bring you this two-parter about LGBTQ+ stories from Japan. Part one covers some of the earliest writing in Japanese through the end of the Meiji Period in 1912.Part two (coming soon) covers Taisho Japan (when women finally enter the stage) through some of Japan's contemporary queer writers.This episode is rated mature. CW for the two-part series: historical accounts of practices today recognized as pedophilia and pederasty, mentions of suicide and suicidal ideation (fictiona...
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1 year ago
54 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Japanese Crime and Mystery Writing
Today, we’re talking about crime and mystery novels from Japan. We’ll start with the development of the crime and mystery genre in the English-speaking world. We’ll move on to Japanese crime and mystery writing—how it was inspired by Anglo-American crime and mystery writing and how it evolved in its own way. And we’ll end with the life and work of writer Seishi Yokomizo, especially his novel The Honjin Murders, translated into English by Louise Heal Kawai.Notes and sources on the episode page...
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1 year ago
53 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Atomic Bomb Literature
This episode is marked mature.In this episode, we take a look at Japanese writing about the American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed as many as 215,000 people in August 1945. We’ll start with the history of the atomic bomb, its use, and its effects on the hibakusha who survived. Then we’ll take a look at atomic bomb literature itself. Our focus text is "Masks of Whatchamacallit" by Kyoko Hayashi (follow the link to read for free), translated by Kyoko Selden.CW: war, illness (hi...
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1 year ago
59 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Zainichi Literature—Koreans Writing in Japan
In this episode, we take a look at the history of Koreans writing in Japan. We’ll start with the history of Koreans in Japan, including anti-Korean prejudice before and after WWII. We’ll move on to Zainichi Korean writing. And we’ll finish with a look at Kazuki Kaneshiro’s Go, translated into English by Takami Nieda.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Correction: This episode claims Yi Kwang-su's book Ai Ka ("Is It Love?") does not appear in English translation. Ai Ka ...
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1 year ago
55 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 3
In part three of this episode, we’ll finish our story of Japanese apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. First, stories from the mid-90s and 20-aughts. Then, stories from after the March 2011 Triple Disasters. We’ll end with a look at the life and work of author Yoko Tawada who has written several apocalyptic stories, including one of the most important works of post-3/11 apocalyptic fiction available in English translation—The Emissary, also known at The Last Children of Tokyo.CW: brief mentions...
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1 year ago
56 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 2
In part two of this three part episode, we're looking at the apocalyptic and dystopian fiction of Japan. We'll begin with the evolution of the idea of "the end of the world" in Japan, especially after Japan started importing American and European science fiction. We'll move on to Japanese apocalyptic stories, especially between 1945 and the 1970s and then during the 1970s and 1980s. CW: brief mentions of historical and fictional violence and rapePart two mistakenly implies Jules Verne was an ...
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1 year ago
50 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
The End of the World! Japanese Apocalypse, Part 1
In part one of this three part episode, we're looking at apocalyptic and dystopian fiction as genres. Their origins in Western and Central Asia. Their evolution in Western Europe. And a history of English-language apocalyptic and dystopian storytelling that will provide us with context and a basis for comparison when we turn to Japanese stories in part two.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.CW: brief mentions of historical and fictional violence and rapeThis episode’s...
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1 year ago
40 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 2
In part two of this two-part episode on misogyny in Japanese literature, we're talking about the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask.Check out part one for400 years of attitudes about women in JapanWoman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writersNotes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.This episode is rated mature. CW: misogyny, fictional rape, internalized homophobia, ...
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1 year ago
39 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Misogyny and Yukio Mishima, Part 1
In part one of this two-part episode, we're talking about misogyny in Japanese literature. 400 years of attitudes about women in JapanWoman in modern Japanese literature, especially in the work of some of its most important writersCheck out part two (coming soon) for the life and work of Yukio Mishima, especially by way of his I-Novel, Confessions of a Mask.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.This episode is rated mature. CW: misogyny, fictional rape, interna...
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1 year ago
46 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Kenji Miyazawa
There is no one quite like Kenji Miyazawa. Born into wealth, he longed to be “a real peasant”. One of Japan’s most influential children’s writers, he sold only one story during his lifetime.Read Japanese Literature takes a look at Miyazawa's colorful biography through three of his beloved stories.Miyazawa produced the artwork for this episode. It's a painted titled Power Pole in the Moonlight.Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us ...
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1 year ago
44 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
The Stories of Studio Ghibli
To celebrate the overseas release of The Boy and the Heron (aka How Do You Live?) RJL delves into the stories that inspire animator Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, especiallyNausicaä of the Valley of the WindHowl’s Moving CastleMy Neighbor TotoroWe’ll end with a deep dive into Kiki’s Delivery Service—the Ghibli film and the novel by Eiko Kadano (as translated by Emily Balistrieri).Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript available.*25,000 total episode downloads! Thanks for your su...
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1 year ago
48 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Haruki Murakami
In this episode, we're talking about one of the most important voices in modern Japanese literature, Haruki Murakami.His biographyWhy so many people have such strong feelings about his writingAnd his short story "TV People"We'll end with what I like best about this much loved (and much hated) author.Notes and sources on the episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond d...
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2 years ago
43 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
Japanese Children's Literature
In this episode, we're talking about Japanese children's literature.The history of children’s literature in generalThe history of children’s literature in JapanAnd Sachiko Kashiwaba and Temple Alley Summer—a story that is about Japanese children’s literature (at least a little bit!)Notes and sources on the episode page.Let RJL know what you think! (Contact us through the website if you want a response.)Please note that text messages are for feedback only. RJL can't respond directly.Get in tou...
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2 years ago
45 minutes

Read Japanese Literature
In this episode, we explore the enduring legacy of Greek/English/Irish/American/Japanese author Lafcadio Hearn and the ghost story The Peony Lantern. We'll start out by looking at Hearn's life. We'll discuss the long history of the story Boton Doro, more commonly known as The Peony Lantern, including its most famous incarnation under Hearn's pen. And then we'll look at two modern adaptations of the story by Aoko Matsuda and Kyoko Nakajima. Notes and sources on the episode page. Transcript ava...